The Springfield Serial Killer
by writergirl142
Summary: The BAU is sent to Missouri to investigate 6 killings. New agent, Cori Rogers, tags along to provide her help. Developments in the case begin to force her to look back, while developing feelings force her to look ahead. Who's behind this and what is their connection to Cori? Reid/OC
1. Chapter 1

**Okay, since people seemed to like the starting chapter of my Criminal Minds Halloween Frights fic, here's the first chapter of the main story. I hope you guys enjoy it.**

* * *

Chapter 1: BAU, Meet Cori

_Albert Einstein once said,  
"Strive not to be a success,  
but rather to be of value."_

_**November 25, 2014  
Behavioral Analysis Unit, Quantico, VA**_**  
**  
As the sun shone over the city, a girl, who appeared to be a teenager, walked up to the Behavioral Analysis Unit building. She looked up for a minute, her sunglasses, which currently blocked the sun from her eyes, gleaming in the bright morning sun. Lowering her head, she walked into the building.

Once she was in, she removed her sunglasses, revealing dual-colored eyes. "Okay, so I'm in now where do I go?"

"Can I help you?" Looking up, she saw a women sitting at a desk.

Walking forward, she said, "Uh yeah. My name is Cori Rogers. I've just been recently employed."

The woman typed on her keyboard, searching for Cori's name. "There's a Coretta Rogers listed, is this you?"

Cori nodded. "Coretta's my real name, I just prefer Cori."

"You seem a bit young. How old are you, sixteen, seventeen?"

"Twenty-five actually." Cori answered. "I just look young."

The receptionist raised an eyebrow, like she didn't believe what Cori was saying, then she sighed and printed off a paper. She handed it to Cori. "The office you'll be working in is on the sixth floor. When you get in, ask for Aaron Hotchner. He'll direct you from there."

Cori nodded. "Thanks." She walked to the elevator and stepped inside, pressing the button labeled "**6**". Once the elevator stopped and the doors opened, Cori stepped out, her heart racing. She was nervous about her first job and was nearly desperate to make a good impression. Once the elevator had stopped and the doors opened, Cori slowly stepped out, her eyes looking around and taking in everything.

"Are you lost, ma'am?" Cori turned and saw a tall man with dark hair and eyes looking at her, a slightly confused expression on his face.

"Um, actually, I'm not sure." Cori replied with a small shrug. "I was told to ask for Aaron Hotchner when I got to this floor."

"I'm Hotchner." The man said. "What can I do for you?"

"My name is Coretta Rogers. I'm the agent that was recently hired." Cori said.

"Coretta?"

"Yes, Cori for short."

"Well, okay then." Hotchner said. "Come with me and you can meet the rest of the team."

Cori nodded and followed Hotchner into what she had read in books as the bullpen of the office. A group of 6 people were gathered around a desk looking towards Hotchner and Cori as they walked closer.

"Who's the kid, Hotch?" One of them, a tall, African American man asked.

"This, Agent Morgan, is our new agent, Cori Rogers." Hotch said.

"Seems a bit young to me." A young woman, probably nearly ten or so years older than Cori, with brown hair and icy eyes, said grinning.

"How old are you exactly?" Another man, this one sitting in the desk, asked. He had pale skin and shaggy brown hair. "You don't look like you're much older than seventeen."

"I'm twenty-five." Cori replied softly.

The pale man started typing on his computer. "According to her file, she has an IQ of 183."

"Impressive." Another woman, this one with blonde hair. "Almost as smart as you are, Spence."

"So we got another genius?" A woman with brunette hair asked.

"She's also deaf in her left ear from," the young man (Spence?) leaned closer to the computer screen. "what is listed as a childhood illness."

"I wear a hearing aid in that ear so it won't be much of an issue." Cori said. "Now can you please tell me who you are?"

"Oh sorry." An older man, older than Hotch, said. "My name is David Rossi. You've met our unit chief, Aaron Hotchner, or Hotch as we call him."

Cori nodded. "I've read your books, Mister Rossi, and I must say they're very informative."

David smiled. "No 'Mister', Rogers. Just Rossi will do fine."

"Yes sir."

"Derek Morgan." The black man said, holding out a hand, which Cori shook nervously.

"Karma Morgan. We typically call each other by last names, but you might want to call me by my first name or you'll end up confusing me and my brother here." the girl with brown hair introduced, jabbing a thumb in Derek's direction.

"I'm Jennifer Jareau, but you can call me JJ." the blonde woman said.

"Kate Callahan." The brunette woman smiled.

"And I'm Dr. Spencer Reid." the pale man said.

"We have another team member, but she isn't here right now." Karma said, smiling. "But she should be later."

"Nice to meet you all." Cori said, nodding. "So do I need to give you guys my information so you know I'm legit, or what?"

"We already know all that we need to about you, Rogers." Hotch said.

"How could you already know that?"

"There are several ways we can get information but the best way we know how is to profile you based on what we observe." Spencer said. "Then to make sure we're right, we'll either ask you or ask our tech analyst to verify your background."

"Okay so if you can figure me out, prove it." Cori said, leaning on one foot and crossing her arms, her previous nervousness gone.

"You're snarky now but when you came in, you were nervous suggesting that it is either a cover up for your real feelings or you feel more comfortable around us." Derek started.

"Your left wrist is red and raw indicating that you've been wringing it excessively which in turn suggests that it's a nervous habit you have had since either childhood or as teenager, hence the reason you have the watch there." Spencer took over. "Your pale skin and the dark shadows under your eyes are either natural or brought on by constant illness, lack of proper care of yourself or both. Your thin body may be of the same origin. You have two different eye colors, one brown, the other blue, signifying heterochromia, the cause of which is unknown."

David spoke. "You are wearing a button down which indicates you were originally trying to look your best at work, but with the tail left untucked and wearing jeans and converse suggests a relaxed attitude that indicates an upbringing influenced by boys and adapting your personality in order to keep up with them."

"Your socks also don't match, either on purpose or on accident." Spencer finished.

Cori blinked several times in surprise before she shook her head, grinning a bit. "Not bad. And for the record, the socks not matching, that was on purpose."

"Just like what you do with your socks, Reid." Karma said, smirking as her brother nudged Spencer's shoulder. Spencer glared up at her and Derek.

"I have my reasons for not wearing matching socks." Spencer said.

"It's supposed to be good luck to not wear socks that match, right?" Cori said.

Spencer looked at her, a little bit of surprise on his face. "Exactly." He smiled.

Cori grinned. Hotch nodded slowly. "Okay, well, Rogers, you came in at a slow time. We don't have any cases right now so you and the team can get to know each other."

Cori nodded. "Yes sir." And Hotch disappeared up the stairs to his office. Cori ran a hand through her dark bangs, then rubbed her eyes. "So you guys know about me, but I know next to nothing about you."

"Not much to tell that you wouldn't need to see and learn for yourself." Karma said, smiling. "But there is a member of our team you haven't been introduced to."

"Who?" Cori raised an eyebrow in confusion.

"Our tech analyst." JJ explained. "She's the one who does things like background checks, searching for things we need for cases, that kind of thing."

"Did somebody mention me?" Cori turned and blinked when she saw a woman with blonde hair and dressed in a very colorful array of clothes and jewelry.

"Hey, Baby Girl." Derek said, smiling. "We were just introducing ourselves to the new agent." He nodded in Cori's direction, who held up a hand and waved slightly. "This is our tech analyst, Penelope Garcia."

Penelope smiled widely at Cori. "Oh yay!" She walked as fast as she could toward Cori. "What's your name, sweetie?"

"Cori Rogers." Cori answered.

"Oh I love that name!" Penelope exclaimed. Cori grinned. Penelope gasped when her eyes locked with Cori's. "And two different eye colors! That is amazing!"

"It's called heterochromia." Cori said. "The reason for my eyes having heterochromia is very simple: heterochromia is the result of relative excess or lack of melanin, which is a pigment. It can be caused by a number of things, but my heterochromia is caused by genetic mosaicism."

JJ laughed. "Yup. Definitely another genius." She looked at Spencer. "Looks like you have some competition, Spence."

Spencer just rolled his eyes. Cori cleared her throat, causing everyone to look at her again. "I admit that while I'm very smart for my age, I'm not going to go around trying to show others up just to prove it."

Kate grinned. "Well, that's a relief then." Cori smirked.

"So where are you from, kid, cause I'm pretty sure you're not from around here, if your behavior is any indication." Derek said.

"Nice deduction, Morgan." Cori said, grinning widely. "You would be right. I actually just moved here a few days ago from Springfield, Missouri."

"Got any family?" Karma asked, smiling.

"Yeah. I got a mother, an older brother, and a goddaughter." Cori replied. "My brother disappeared eighteen years ago and my father passed away eleven years ago from lung cancer."

"That's rough, kid." Derek said.

Cori shrugged. "Dad passed away not long after I graduated high school when I was thirteen. My brother ran away when I was seven. I don't know what happened to him. I tried to track him down several times, especially after Dad died, but it was like he disappeared off the face of the earth."

"Sorry I'm late guys!" A voice called out. Cori turned and saw a woman, one who didn't look much older than Cori herself, walking towards the team. "Traffic was a nightmare."

"No problem, Charlotte," JJ said, grinning. "We were just introducing ourselves to our new team member here." She gestured to Cori, who gave Charlotte a short wave.

Charlotte turned towards Cori, a wide grin on her face. "Hi there! I'm Charlotte Darla! Who are you?"

Cori smiled. "Cori." she replied. "Cori Rogers."

Charlotte held out her hand, which she shook when Cori grabbed it. "Well, welcome to the team, Cori."

"Thanks."

* * *

**I do not own Criminal Minds. I also don't own Karma Morgan or Charlotte Darla. Karma belongs to arielkatze and Charlotte belongs to another friend of mine. **

**Reid &amp; Review please!**


	2. Chapter 2

**My dear readers, I am so sorry I have not updated, well, anything in so long. The last year I have been at a jobcorps center learning how to be a computer technician and when I returned, I got a job at my local walmart. Problem is, I work the night shift so my only days off are Sunday and Monday, which I spend a lot of time catching up on sleep with.**

**Hopefully you guys can forgive me!**

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Chapter 2: The Case

**_November 25, 2014  
Cori's apartment, Washington D.C., VA_**

Cori pinched the bridge of her nose as she woke up the next morning. Her first day at work had been uneventful. All there had been was paperwork, paperwork, and, oh yeah, more paperwork. The only thing that possibly kept Cori sane was either watching Derek slip some of his folders in Spencer's stack when the younger man was out of the room (if Spencer noticed, he didn't say anything) or when Penelope came and dragged her off to her lair, as she called it, for pretty much anything.

Cori reached over to her nightstand, grabbing her hearing aid, turning it on and putting it in her left ear. She got up, running her hand over the ears of her black tabby, Cynder, as she did so, and walked to her closet. Running a hand through her hair to try and tame it, Cori selected her outfit and quickly got dressed.

After she had gotten dressed, she walked into her kitchen to fix Cynder's breakfast as well as her own. As she took out the can of cat food, she glanced at her calendar, noting that it was her goddaughter, Luka's, birthday. She grinned. "Today's Luka's birthday, Cynder." she said, looking at the tabby, who had jumped on the counter when she smelled her food, and running a hand across her soft black fur. Cynder looked at Cori, her green eyes locking with the dual colors of Cori's eyes.

Cori chuckled, finished with Cynder's food and set the food dish on the floor, laughing when the black cat jumped from the counter onto the floor and began eating her food. Cori went to the cupboard, took out some bread and fixed her some toast with butter, along with some hot chocolate to drink (She didn't drink coffee. She found it disgusting). Once she was finished with breakfast, she cleaned up her mess as well as Cynder's, filled a travel mug with hot chocolate, grabbed her backpack and keys and left her apartment, locking the door behind her. She walked down the stairs of the complex and began walking to the BAU.

_**Behavioral Analysis Unit, Quantico, VA**_

Nearly as soon as Cori entered the BAU, Hotch called them into the conference room. Raising an eyebrow, Cori followed the others to the room and took a seat beside Spencer. He grinned slightly at her before turning his attention to the file in front of him. Penelope came in with a remote and what looked like a tablet in hand. She came around and handed the tablet to Cori.

"That's so you can easily look at whatever I put up there." she said, pointing at the screen on the wall. Cori looked over at Spencer, who was still looking through the folder. "Oh, Reid hates the newer tech so he still uses the actual file folder." Cori nodded slowly.

"I don't _hate_ newer technology." Spencer said. "The newer technology slows me down so I find it simpler to have a paper file in front of me."  
Garcia rolled her eyes, smiling, as Cori smirked.

"So where are we going this time, Garcia?" Karma asked.

"My fellow crime solvers," Penelope began. "You are headed to Springfield, Missouri." Cori, mid sip on her hot chocolate, choked and coughed on her current sip. Kate reached over and whacked Cori on the back a couple of times before the younger girl regained her composure.

"You okay, Rogers?" Kate asked. Cori looked around as the others gave her concerned looks. She nodded.

"I'm fine." she replied. "Just wasn't expecting to be going home my first case."

"Oh right." JJ said. "You told us you were from Springfield."

Cori shrugged then nodded at Penelope to resume presenting the case. Penelope looked at Cori concernedly for a moment before looking back at her tablet. "Anyways, in the last three weeks, six women have been murdered."

"Six women murdered in three weeks?" Derek repeated. "And we're just now hearing about this?"

"There was no reason to believe that the murders were connected in any way." Penelope explained. "None of the women seemed to have anything in common."

"What changed their minds?" Charlotte questioned.

"The fact that all the victims were abducted within two days of the previous victim was abducted. The previous victim was also dumped the day the next victim was abducted." Penelope said. She brought up photos of the six victims, one after the other, naming them as she did so. "Mary Louis, nineteen years old. She was stabbed thirty-two times; Katie Walker, seventeen years old. She was stabbed forty-nine times; Michelle Owens, twenty-one years old. She was stabbed twenty times; Rachel Michaels, twenty-six years old. She was stabbed twelve times; Cindy Collins, twenty-three years old. She was stabbed sixteen times; and Nicki Alexander, sixteen years old. She was shot fifty-three times."

Hotch looked at Cori, who was staring at the photos, deep in thought. "What are you thinking, Rogers?"

Cori blinked and looked at Hotch. "I was just thinking two things: one, the younger the victim is, the amount of overkill increases."

"And the second thing?" Karma asked.

"The victims have similar appearances." Cori said. "Dark brown or black hair and heterochromatic eyes."

"They're surrogates for the unsub's true target." Spencer said. Cori nodded slowly.

"There's one more thing." Penelope said, clenching her teeth. The team looked at her. "Another women, sixteen-year-old Madylin Jane, was reported missing yesterday." Penelope brought up another photo of a teenage girl, another one with dark hair.

"The unsub must have taken her." JJ said. "If we look at this, it looks like he's sticking to a schedule."

"Then we better get moving." Hotch said, picking up his tablet. "Wheels up in twenty."

* * *

Twenty minutes later, they were on their way to the airstrip, Cori catching a ride with JJ. The ride there was quiet until JJ decided to break the silence. "So, you nervous about going back home so soon?" Cori shrugged, though internally she was actually a little nervous. "After the case, you should pay your mother a visit."

"And then what?" Cori suddenly snapped, looking at JJ. "I told Mom I wouldn't be back in Springfield unless I had figured out what had happened to Kyler."

"I take it Kyler is the brother who ran away eighteen years ago?"

Cori nodded then sighed. "I'm sorry I snapped, JJ. I just don't know what I could possibly talk to Mom about."

"Don't worry about it." JJ said. "Your mother will just be happy to see you."

Cori smiled, and then suddenly slapped her forehead. "I forgot to call my neighbor and ask her to check in on Cynder while we're gone."

"Cynder?"

"My cat." Cori answered, taking out her cell phone. "She's a six-month old black tabby and is such a sweet heart." She dialed her neighbor's number. "Hey, Laura, it's Cori. and then hung up. Cori sat back in the seat. "Cynder is all taken care of."

JJ smiled. "That's good." A few minutes later, they were at the airstrip. From the look of things, they were first to arrive. When they got out of the car, Cori wasn't sure what amazed her more: the size of the jet or the fact that it was for BAU use only as far as she knew.

"This is for us to use?" she asked, looking at JJ, who laughed softly.

"Yup." she replied. "It gets us to whatever city and state we need to go to. Come on. I'll show you around the inside so that you're not confused when we take off." Cori grinned as JJ led her up the stairs and into the jet. "Okay so there's where you can get coffee." Cori stuck out her tongue. "Or something else I bet." Cori sighed with relief. JJ smirked. "Over there is the restroom and then of course here is the cabin where we discuss the case a little more and relax after the case is done."

Cori walked between the chairs and sat down on the chair at the table, near the window. JJ smiled and sat down across from her. five minutes later, the rest of the team arrived. Spencer sat next to Cori and Hotch sat next to JJ. Kate and Karma sat down on the couch, Dave and Derek remained standing, and Charlotte sat on the chair across from the table.

They went over the case, this time in a bit more detail, with Penelope on the computer screen that sat on the table.

"This unsub definitely has a racial preference." Kate said. "All six women were Caucasian white."

"But their ages are all over the place." Derek said. "The youngest victim was Katie Walker, who was seventeen years old and the oldest victim was Rachel Michaels, who was twenty-six years old. The latest victim, Madilyn, is sixteen. This says the unsub doesn't have an age preference."

"Cori, do you have something to add?" Dave said, looking at the newest member.

Cori, who had been staring intensely at the photos of the women, shook her head and looked up. "Sorry, what?" she asked, a slightly confused expression on her face.

"Do you have something to add?" Hotch repeated.

Cori nodded slowly, taking a slow sip of her drink. "Yeah, I found another thing the women had in common. Other than the fact that all had very dark hair ranging from dark brown to black, they were all of a very slight build and very pale skinned. They actually look like they suffer from some sort of immune disorder."

The rest of the team looked at the photos again. "She's right." Spencer said. "And it looks like the fifth victim, Cindy Collins, and the sixth victim, Nicki Alexander, suffered from heterochromia. Their eyes are completely different colors, one eye is brown and the other is blue." At this revelation, the team looked up at Cori.

"Cori," JJ said. "Except for the ages, all these girls resemble you."

Cori shook her head. "Okay, yes, I admit that they and I share some physical traits, but that doesn't mean anything. Heterochromia may be rare, but it's not uncommon. When I was in college, my roommate had heterochromia. One of her eyes was lime green and the other was sky blue. This doesn't mean anything."

"But it could mean something." Charlotte said. She turned to the computer. "Garcia, see if you can find anything else the women had in common. There might be something that was overlooked."

"I'm on it." Garcia said.

Hotch looked at the team. "Okay, Rossi, Reid and Karma, go to the coroner's office. See what they have to say. Morgan, you, Callaghan, and Darla head to the latest dump site. JJ, you, me and Rogers will coordinate with the local police."

* * *

When they arrived at the police station ten minutes after landing, Cori sighed. She knew her way around this city, something she knew she could contribute. Later, she knew she'd have to go visit her mother, but for now, they had a case to solve.

"Well, if it isn't little Cori Rogers." Cori looked up at the sound of her name and found the chief of the SPD walking towards them. She bit back a groan. "I thought after you had returned from FBI training, then moved just a few days later, you were gone for good. But here you are." Cori clenched a fist, willing herself not to make a smart remark. She was on the job and it would look bad if she said anything in reply. The chief turned to Hotch. "You must be from the BAU. I'm the police chief, Daniel Walker."

"I'm SSA Aaron Hotchner." Hotch replied. "This is Agent Jennifer Jareau and you already know Agent Cori Rogers."

"Has Madilyn shown up at all?" JJ asked.

Walker shook his head. "No and that has me worried that this son of a gun has already killed her."

"Actually, if the unsub is sticking to a schedule," Cori started. "that means he may not kill Madilyn until tomorrow."

Walker sighed. "That doesn't give us long to find her."

"Do you have a room set up for us?" Hotch asked. "We'd like to get started right away."

"Yeah, we got our conference room all set up for you." Walker answered.

* * *

About an hour later, pictures of the victims as well as a map of the area were pinned up on the board, covering most of it. Hotch and JJ were talking with the officers so when the rest of the team walked into the conference room, they found Cori sitting alone at the table, files and papers strewn out around her. She had a pair of glasses with dark blue frames on and was currently staring at one of the papers intently, her eyes moving from one side to the next. She held a pen in her left hand and her right hand was placed on her forehead, pushing her black bangs out of her dual-colored eyes.

"Got anything yet, Rogers?" Dave asked as he walked over to the younger girl. Cori said nothing, her eyes still moving across the paper, her mouth moving in silent speaking. Dave reached out and gently grabbed Cori's shoulder. "Rogers?" he said, a little louder this time.

Cori jumped slightly when Dave's hand grabbed her shoulder, but she quickly recovered, looking up at Dave, her bangs no longer lying flat on her forehead from where she had pushed them from her eyes. Cori blinked a couple of times before clearing her throat and speaking. "Sorry, what?" Karma's eyes narrowed as Cori repeated the same question she had said when she had zoned out on the jet. She made a mental note to ask Cori about that later.

Dave sighed and repeated his question. "Do you have anything yet?"

Cori cleared her throat again, taking her glasses off and rubbing her eyes, before replacing the glasses and speaking. "Yeah." She stood up and walked over to the board. "All of these women were low risk. They never did anything out of line and were considered very responsible."

"Which makes us wonder why the unsub is doing this to them in the first place." Spencer said, hand on his chin, a thoughtful expression on his face.

"Have you figured out what the victims have in common?" Charlotte asked.

Cori shook her head slowly. "Sorry, no." she replied. "What did you guys find out?"

"The victims' stab wounds were very deep, but all over the place as if the unsub were stabbing them out of rage." Dave answered. "This usually suggests that this was personal but as far as we can tell, the victims have nothing in common."

"The dump site is very open." Derek said. "If anybody were to drive by, they'd see the unsub dumping the victims."

"The site may be personal, but it may also be a means to further demean the women." Karma said, crossing her arms.

"So the question is, why is this guy targeting them in the first place?" Charlotte questioned.

* * *

**So what do you guys think? Alright? R&amp;R please!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Okay a few things, like I said in my Doctor Who fic when I posted, I had no computer for the longest time. My laptop literally took 5-10 minutes to load up to where I can actually do anything. Problem is, like a couple of minutes later, the stupid thing would freeze. I blame the Windows update my dad put on the computer which, mind you, is too new for the model my laptop is. Luckily I think my dad fixed it and I should be okay to post again, given my crazy work schedule doesn't interfere too much.**

**Second, any references to Cori starting towards Mary-sueness, I appreciate the warning, but I swear, just because Cori has similarities to Spencer, I actually didn't mean for that to happen. Cori's fashion sense (button downs, jeans, converse and the like) are just clothing that I myself am fond of. Converse are my favorite brand of shoe so I literally force them on nearly every fiction character I create. Spencer wearing them was just a coincidence to me that I kind of enjoyed.**

**Also her non matching socks, I actually do wear non matching socks. Haven't in quite a while, not because I think they're lucky (trust me I was wearing mismatched socks when I went down the stairs of my dorm a couple of years ago, and I still tripped, fell and sprained my ankle forcing myself on crutches for a week), but I wear them because I wanted to try something bright and insane, and the best I could go was mismatched socks (drives my boyfriend and family (except two of my cousins) nuts.**

**Just to inform you, Cori's nervous habits are actually identical to my own. My own personality and habits are usually where my characters get them.**

**And Karma and Charlotte? Yes they're OCs but they're OCs that two of my friends created because they love criminal minds as much as I do.**

**So anyways, there are the explanations. Hope they explained some things.**

Chapter 3: A Visit Home; Finding a Suspect

**November 25, 2014**  
**Hannah Rogers' house, Springfield, MO**

That evening, the team called it quits for the day. Instead of bunking at a hotel with the rest of the team, Cori had opted to going back home and staying with her mother for the duration of the case.

After catching a taxi, she made the 15 minute trek to her childhood home. When the taxi pulled up, Cori quickly gathered her belongings, thanked and paid the driver and stepped out into the familiar front yard. As she had suspected, the house had not changed a bit. This surprised her, since Cori had not been home in a few years.

Taking a deep breath, Cori walked up to the front door and knocked. "Just a minute!" The familiar voice of her mother called out. Cori took a deep breath in, preparing herself for what her mother would say to her. About a couple of minutes later, the lock clicked, the door opened slowly, and Hannah Rogers stepped out onto the porch. Her eyes widened with shock when they landed on Cori.

"Cori?" She said, inching closer as if she was afraid Cori wasn't there. "What are you doing back here? It's only been a few years. Did you find Kyler?" The mention of her brother made Cori tense, her hands clenching into fists.

"I'm afraid not..." She muttered, lowering her head. "I'm sorry, Mom. I know I promised I wouldn't come home until I had found Kyler, but the BAU had a case here."

"Those girls that go missing and 2 days later they're found dead?" Hannah asked. Cori looked up in surprise. "I do actually watch the news, Coretta." Cori smiled slightly. Hannah's expression darkened. "Honey, I want you to be careful. Those girls-"

"Look a lot like me, I know, Mom." Cori interrupted. "The team has already pointed that out."

Hannah sighed, but nodded. She grabbed Cori's hand. "Come in, sweetheart." Cori allowed herself to be pulled inside where she then preceded to sit in the arm chair she used to always sit in with her father while she was growing up. "So, besides the fact that your team is working a case here, why are you here instead of at a motel with them."

"I thought that since we were in my hometown, what better person to stay with than my mother." Cori replied. "Is that okay?"

Hannah, now sitting on another smaller chair across from her daughter, smiled and nodded. "Of course it is! I would rather my little genius be here than anywhere else." Cori grinned.

For the remainder of the evening, Cori shared what she had been up to since leaving home. She told her mother about everyone on her BAU team, and when she got to Spencer, her mother stopped her.

"You like him don't you?" Hannah questioned, smirking.

Cori's eyes widened as a fierce blush lit up her pale cheeks. "Mo- Mom!" She exclaimed. "N-no way!" But Hannah knew she was right. After all, no one knew Cori better than her own mother. Cori's blush intensified. "He's my coworker! I can't!"

"Says who?" Hannah asked. She stood up and walked into the kitchen. "Do you want something to drink, sweetheart?"

"Water please."

"Coming right up." Cori kicked off her converse and pulled her knees up on the chair, wrapping her arms around her knees as she settled her chin on them. A thoughtful expression crossed her face as, without meaning to, she began thinking about the case. Besides their similar appearances, what could the unsub possibly want in regards to them? And another thought: did her own similar appearance to the victims make her a target herself?

That night, as Cori lay on her old bed in her old room, staring up at the ceiling, the case never left her mind. "Why is the unsub killing these girls?" She muttered softly to herself, absentmindedly drumming the fingers of her right hand on her stomach. "What satisfaction could he possibly be gaining?"

**November 26, 2014**  
**Springfield Police Department, Springfield, MO**

The next day at the station, Cori sat at the very same table, watching as Spencer began explaining his geographic profile.

"All the victims were found near or on this area." He began. "That led me to think that this unsub's hunting ground is within a ten mile radius of this area."

"Makes sense." Kate said. "Serial killers usually stick to an area that's familiar to them."

"But the question still remains," Dave started. "Why is this unsub taking these girls?"

"And why does the number of wounds increase the younger they are?" Derek finished. His phone ringing caught everyone's attention as he fished it out of his pocket. "Hey, Baby Girl, what have you got for me?"

"Oh I have a lot, Chocolate Thunder," Penelope began. "But I think what you're looking for is what these girls have in common."

"Besides similar appearances?" JJ questioned. "What else is there? These girls never crossed paths once."

"Very true, but I checked further into their backgrounds and low and behold, all of these girls had IQs of 178 or higher."

"Geniuses!" Charlotte exclaimed, startling Cori, who was sitting right next to her, and causing her to jump almost completely out of her seat.

"So with a combination of the genius level intellects and the severe number of wounds, that indicates that the unsub has a grudge against girls with above average intelligence levels for their ages." Karma said, snapping her fingers.

"But that still leaves a lot of people in the suspect pool." Derek pointed out. "Anyone could have a grudge against those kind of people."

"Yeah, I mean people used to bully me all the time for being a genius." Spencer interjected. "Those kinds of people are not rare."

"But what is rare is the age of the victims." Cori said, eyes widening cartoonishly. "We already pointed out how the number of wounds increases the younger the victim is. The only way the unsub would hold such animosity towards someone like that on a scale like this was if they had some personal connection to them, either a sibling or cousin. Possibly, the unsub could have even been older than them."

"Because they would have been the center of attention until the genius family member was born and took that attention away!" Spencer exclaimed. He turned to Derek, snatching the phone from his hand. "Garcia, do a search on anybody in the Springfield area who had relatives that were registered geniuses with IQs in the range you specified to us before."

"How far back, 187?" Penelope asked, fingers already on her keyboard. "I need better parameters."

"To inflict this many wounds, this unsub has to be strong." Hotch said. "So I'd say at least into the 1990's."

"On it, bossman," Penelope said.

"All the victims suffered from some sort of immune disorder, so look for anyone who's genius relative suffered from any sort of immune disorder." Kate said.

"I'll check back with you, my lovelies, once I find something of interest." And with that, Penelope was off.

"Okay, I think we have our profile." Hotch said, turning to the team. "Let's get it out and catch this son of a gun."

**Okay so i'd love some input on how to do the profile. I had it all written out at one point, but then my flashdrive crashed and I lost everything I've been working on the last several years. I already know who did it and how the confrontation is going tot go down but writing the rest of the investigation has me stumped.**

**Please Reid and Review!**


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